VILE PEOPLE! 36 YEARS AFTER THE INTRODUCTION OF POLITICAL PLURALISM, THE STATE SECURITY SERVICE, ITS COLLABORATORS AND POLITICAL PATRONAGE NETWORKS CONTINUE THEIR DIRTY GAME — AN URGENT APPEAL TO AMERICA, PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP AND MARCO RUBIO TO HELP SAVE ALBANIA
Political Essay by Flamur Buçpapaj
Thirty-six years have passed since political pluralism was established and Albania emerged from dictatorship. Unfortunately, however, the State Security Service and its collaborators, now adapted to the system of political patronage, continued their dirty game. It seemed that no informant or collaborator was left without accumulating wealth or obtaining a government position. Some worthless people, whom nobody had ever known, built careers, became members of parliament, ministers and directors, and accumulated wealth without any apparent concern.
It seemed that no former collaborator of the State Security Service was left outside politics. From Koromanja, Doku, Ciftelia, Dizajnerja e Pambukut, Bullari and others whom I mention in my recollections, to people who managed to become members of parliament and senior figures within the Democratic Party. Some of them, in my view and according to my personal experience, even reached the highest levels of the party’s governing forums.
In Shkodër, nobody knew these people. They were individuals who kept to the shadows and who, whenever I passed by, would move away so that the State Security Service would not see them speaking to me. That was the reality I personally experienced. People who were afraid to meet someone who opposed the dictatorship later appeared as important figures in democracy.
But the game did not end with the fall of communism. It continued within the institutions of the state that emerged afterward.
I also confronted people within the Intelligence Service whom I considered connected to the old structures. I met the head of the service and, in my view, encountered people who continued to use old methods. One State Security informant, whom I regarded as a person without an identity of his own, attacked everyone who had opposed the dictatorship, from Azem Hajdari to me. I also considered his two deputies, based on my allegations and personal convictions, to be connected to the former State Security Service.
Naturally, former State Security officers were retained in their jobs. Meanwhile, the former head, whom I considered connected to the old system, attacked me with all the power his position gave him.
Today, many of these people have ended up in the dustbin of history, and nobody knows them anymore, because even before they had no significant public contribution. What astonishes me, however, is the shamelessness of some of them, who accept senior positions and behave as though they were the most important people in Albania.
They have helped turn Albania into what it is today: miserable, impoverished, plundered and divided among five oligarchs. Uneducated and unqualified people obtain government positions, while honest citizens are pushed to the bottom of the list. Public wealth has become an opportunity for personal gain for those connected to political power.
This is the Albania built by these politicians, these political patronage networks and these people who change their faces according to their interests. Unfortunately, some continue to behave as though they were untouchable, as though nobody had the right to hold them accountable.
Albania: impoverished and depopulated
Albania has been carved up, depopulated and left without a worthy political class. Young people leave, families become poorer, and citizens lose faith in the state. Meanwhile, some people with connections to those in power continue to accumulate wealth.
A democratic state cannot be built when people obtain positions not because of merit, but because of their connections to those in power. There can be no justice when ordinary citizens struggle while people connected to politics enjoy privileges.
Under this leadership, Albania is moving further in the wrong direction. We have taxes but inadequate public services; hospitals facing serious problems; an education system in need of reform; banks that should do more to support the domestic economy; and an army that must continue to modernize. We have institutions that often appear to exist only on paper.
In my political language, I call these fake hospitals, fake education, fake banks and a fake army, because citizens should not be satisfied with an institution’s name; they must see the results it delivers.
Every day, citizens pay taxes, face rising expenses and expect services that they often do not receive at the level they deserve. Meanwhile, those in power continue to protect their own interests.
This is not the Albania for which people fought when they demanded political pluralism.
I have not been defeated by the State Security Service
I, Flamur Buçpapaj, have not been defeated by the former State Security informants who, according to my testimony, informed against me in Shkodër and contributed to my imprisonment. Nor have I been defeated by people whom I considered connected to the former State Security structures in Valbona and who, in my view, organized demonstrations against me.
I have also not been defeated by my confrontations with individuals whom I have accused in connection with the Margariti matter and the attempts that, according to my allegations, sought to take away the land where Nacional is located.
These are my experiences, my recollections and my allegations, and I demand transparency and an examination of the relevant documents.
I have not remained silent, and I will not remain silent. I have continued to write, denounce wrongdoing and speak out because I refuse to accept that people who have suffered should be marginalized while those who benefited from political connections present themselves as Albania’s saviors.
An appeal to America, President Donald Trump and Marco Rubio
For this reason, I appeal to America, President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio: act urgently in support of Albanian democracy, justice and independent institutions.
Albania is an ally of the United States and a member of NATO. This, however, must not mean that our partners should close their eyes to the problems damaging the country. America should support the Albanian people, the fight against corruption, transparency concerning the communist past and the strengthening of the rule of law.
I am not asking America to make decisions on behalf of the Albanian people. I am asking it to support genuine democracy and not to view Albania’s problems solely through the leaders currently in power.
If this situation continues, the younger generation may stop believing that things can change. Communism and the methods of the State Security Service may continue to influence the country’s life even when institutions acquire new names.
Albania needs a new political class, capable people, equal justice, a productive economy and institutions that serve the citizens. We cannot continue with the same people, the same methods and the same interests.
There can be no genuine democracy without transparency, no justice without accountability, and no strong Albania while its citizens become poorer and the country continues to lose its population.
I, Flamur Buçpapaj, will continue to speak about what I have experienced and what I believe is damaging Albania. I have not been defeated by pressure, and I will not remain silent in the face of injustice.
Albania does not belong to five oligarchs, to political patronage networks, to those who benefited from the past, or to those who use power today to serve their own interests. Albania belongs to the Albanian people!
By Flamur Buçpapaj
